All posts by buber

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 179

Weeks had passed and classes were about to begin for Maite. Kepa had continued to check out the local bars to see if anyone could use a bartender or waiter, but so far, he hadn’t found anything he liked. Or rather, no one had seemed to like him. He had been let go from his […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Inguma, the Bringer of Nightmares

Humans have always needed explanations for why bad things happen. If a crop went bad or a violent storm destroyed the harvest, maybe a wizard was the cause. Or maybe someone had not paid the proper tribute to a god or goddess. Bad dreams and nightmares are probably one of the most confounding experiences for […]

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 178

“That was… weird,” said Kepa, after Amalur had vanished. He still sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in the sheet. Maite sat next to him, feeling sticky from her run and wanting nothing more than a shower. But she sensed that he needed to talk so she remained by his side. “It was […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Bilbo’s Iron Ring, a Defense that Failed

“The best-laid plans of mice and men…” Well, one can argue that Bilbo’s Iron Ring, meant to protect the city from the advancing forces of Franco, wasn’t even the best of plans. Fraught with poor and antiquated ideas, it was then sabotaged as the main designer switched sides. In the end, the Iron Ring did […]

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 177

Maite and Kepa sat there, staring dumbly at Amalur as she continued to morph between her three forms. Kepa couldn’t quite tell if they were three distinct personalities or just different variations of the same person. No, person wasn’t quite right. You didn’t call an ancient earth goddess a person. But, he wasn’t quite sure […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Pedro de Axular, the Man and the Myth

There are some people that become larger than life, who take on new roles in the popular imagination because of their accomplishment and become legendary characters in their own right. Axular is one such person. A priest who served many years in the Lapurdi town of Sara, he became mythic, the protagonist of local legends. […]

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 176

“It’s sort of like a cheat code,” mused Kepa as Amalur hovered above their bed expectantly. “You know, in video games, there are times where they right combination of moves opens up an Easter egg.” Maite turned to look at him. “You think this is all some kind of game?” Kepa shrugged. “Not a game, […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Amalur, Mother Earth

Basque mythology can be a bit daunting to delve in to. The problem is that not much was written down and the bits we do have – much thanks to amazing ethnographers such as José Miguel de Barandiaran Ayerbe – are tangled threads of stories where characters and themes have merged and split many times, […]

A Basque Twist on a Classic Cocktail

A random article I stumbled across describes a Basque twist on a classic cocktail. The Bamboo, created by German bartender Louis Eppinger possibly in the mid-1800s in San Francisco if not a bit later in Japan, consists of “equal measures of dry vermouth and dry sherry, plus a couple dashes of bitters.” Brooklyn’s Bar Vinazo has […]

Eguberri on!

Eguberri on, or however you celebrate the holiday season, to all of the readers of Buber’s Basque Page!